A teenage boy is facing charges after several food fair employees were assaulted by a suspect brandishing brass knuckles on Tuesday night.
The incident happened at the grocery store at 905 Portage Avenue around 6:40 p.m.
Three male employees, ages 19, 22, and 46, were taken to the hospital with various injuries to their upper bodies. Winnipeg police said in a news release Wednesday morning that the suspect fled on foot before officers arrived.
Food Fair at 905 Portage Ave. (Mike Deal / Free Press)
WPS said investigators learned that staff had removed the suspect from the store earlier in the day after an incident.
The suspect later returned, produced brass knuckles and assaulted the three victims, according to WPS.
The suspect was arrested in the rear of the 1000 block of Selkirk Avenue. According to WPS, officers observed the suspect discarding brass knuckles in a nearby yard and discovered the murder weapon.
A Winnipeg teen has been charged with three counts of assault with a weapon and one count of possessing a prohibited or restricted weapon knowing that he is not authorized to possess it.
He was released from detention for some work.
On Tuesday night, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs announced it would hold a press conference regarding the incident on Wednesday morning. The event was canceled Wednesday.
Food Fare stores have had several incidents between staff and shoplifting suspects. WPS spokesperson Const. Claude Chauncey said Tuesday's incident does not appear to be related to any incidents previously reported by the media.
“This will stand alone as an unrelated incident,” he said.
WPS did not say how the suspect was taken from the store earlier in the day. Police deferred comment to Food Fair regarding this matter.
“This man came back in direct response to what happened,” Chancey said. “The victims were the same people who were involved in the process of escorting him in the previous incident.”
He said the victims were hit with brass knuckles and suffered various injuries. Some may have suffered concussions.
Store owners suspended a supervisor last month after he got into an argument with an Indigenous woman who was accused of theft.
Security video seen by a Free Press reporter showed an employee tugging on the woman's bag. The woman apparently raised her fist at her employee, then her employee punched her in the face.
In response, AMC, which provides food orders and vouchers to customers under federal programs, said it had severed ties with the grocer but was willing to settle if it received an apology. .
“We are working closely with the owners of Food Fair, who have expressed their sincere apologies for a past incident in which a woman was injured by a security guard at the store,” AMC said in a media advisory Tuesday. Stated. In response, the owners agreed to conduct cultural sensitivity training for employees and draft a comprehensive policy to address shoplifting. ”
Speakers at the now-canceled press conference include Grand Chief Kathy Merrick, Food Fair owners Munter Zayed, Tariq Zayed and Wajih Zayed, according to the advisory. It has said.
A Winnipeg woman said she witnessed another incident involving an employee on May 5.
Gloria Enns was stopped at a red light at Portage Avenue and Arlington Street around 3 p.m. when she saw two men fighting. One person was wearing a red apron, which she recognized as a food fair uniform.
Enns said she called the store and an employee saw a man stealing meat and confronted him.
Food Fair manager Tariq Zaid told the Free Press that there were no physical injuries and that employees were “protecting the store and the products.”
Security footage from the store seen by the Free Press shows a man removing two packages of steak and placing them in a reusable bag. The employee confronted the man at the store's entrance and pulled the bag from his hand.
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca